Chapter 55 Mother and Daughter Clash Head-On

An episode of debt collection was finally suppressed through sheer force by Cao Kun.

Once the food was reheated, Cao Kun and Bai Jing sat across from each other once more.

"By the way, Xiao Kun," Bai Jing said while eating, "I plan to leave Xiayuan County in a day or two."

"You know my situation. I don't have much money left on me, so I need to find a job quickly; otherwise, I'll face a gap where my income dries up before the next one comes in."

"Therefore, I won't be able to stay with you until the university semester starts."

Cao Kun was well aware of Bai Jing's situation. She only had a little over 5,000 yuan left in total. Just as she had said, she urgently needed to find a job, or she would indeed find herself in financial distress.

"Have you already picked a place?" Cao Kun paused his eating.

The corners of Bai Jing's lips curved upward as she replied, "Mm, I'm planning to go to Xihe City."

Xihe City?

Cao Kun thought for a moment and quickly recalled where Xihe City was located.

Xihe City bordered Haicheng and lay to its south. However, unlike Haicheng, which was a tier-one metropolis, Xihe City was merely a tier-three city, barely scraping into the quasi-tier-two category.

Bai Jing continued, "Xihe City isn't far from Haicheng. Taking the bullet train only takes about an hour. Besides, there are plenty of train schedules—morning, noon, afternoon, and even evening trains running back and forth between the two cities."

"Furthermore, I've already checked out some rental apartments in Xihe City online, and the prices are really reasonable."

"A small single apartment with full utilities and a kitchen where you can cook for yourself costs only 1,300 yuan to rent."

"Compared to those apartments in Haicheng that cost three, four, or five thousand yuan a month, it's practically dirt cheap."

"Besides, this afternoon I already submitted my resume online to several companies in Xihe City. Once I go there in a couple of days, I can go straight to job interviews."

Cao Kun hadn't expected that while he was out for the day, Bai Jing had already arranged almost everything.

Swallowing a piece of chicken drumstick, Cao Kun said, "Aunt Bai, actually, you don't have to be in such a rush. I still have some money here. If you..."

Suddenly, before Cao Kun could finish, Bai Jing reached out and interrupted him.

"Xiao Kun, Aunt Bai knows you have some money. That unfilial girl told me she saw your bank card balance, and she said it had over a million yuan in it."

"But you must realize you will have many places where you'll need money in the future. You're going to university, you'll want to date a girlfriend, you'll need to buy a house, and you'll get married. All of these require money."

"Besides, how could Aunt Bai use your money? If I did, what kind of relationship would the two of us have?"

"Aunt Bai hopes that the friendship between the two of us remains completely, utterly pure... If money gets involved, this pure friendship of ours will easily lose its flavor."

Watching Bai Jing speak with such absolute seriousness, Cao Kun slowly nodded and said, "I understand. Then it's all right if I see you off, isn't it?"

"Of course that's fine," Bai Jing said with a brilliant smile. "It's really hard for me to manage two suitcases all by myself. If you can see me off, you can just stay an extra day and see where the apartment I rented is located. That way, if you come to visit me in the future, you won't have trouble finding the place."

The subsequent conversation revolved entirely around Bai Jing's impending departure from Xiayuan County and her journey to Xihe City.

Topics included what kind of apartment to look for, what kind of job to seek, how she planned to start over, and so on.

They chatted all the way until midnight before washing up and going to sleep.

...

The next morning, at half-past eight!

Bai Jing and Cao Kun arrived together at his residence.

Since Bai Jing still had some clothes and cosmetics left there, she came over today to pack them up and take them along.

As soon as the two of them stepped inside, they saw Wang Shanshan emerging from the bathroom.

Observing Wang Shanshan's awkward gait, Bai Jing silently gave Cao Kun a mental thumbs-up.

Good!

At least on this matter, he knew how to take advice.

A whole night had already passed, and Wang Shanshan was still walking like that. It seemed Cao Kun had truly put his back into it yesterday.

That's the way to do it!

When dealing with this unfilial girl, there was simply no need to be soft-hearted—she didn't deserve it!

Upon seeing Bai Jing return, Wang Shanshan instantly flew into a rage.

If this woman hadn't acted arbitrarily by mortgaging all the family's assets to Huang Jianren's parents, how could she have ended up with no money for university?

If this woman hadn't stabbed her in the back, how could Cao Kun, this devoted follower, have ever left her side?

Originally, she could have easily secured her tuition fees for university.

Yet, because of this woman, she now had to pay the price of 256 hours just to get the money for her education.

"What are you back for?!"

The more she thought about it, the more resentment she felt, and the words blurted out of Wang Shanshan's mouth.

As a mother, Bai Jing naturally wasn't going to cower before this unfilial daughter.

"What? Is this your house? Whether I come back or not is none of your damn business. Look at you instead—hanging around a grown man's house every day! If you have no shame, other people still want their dignity. Can you hurry up and get lost instead of ruining this young man's reputation? He's still single, you know."

Wang Shanshan hadn't expected that a single remark of hers would provoke such a torrential counterattack from Bai Jing, almost leaving her mentally paralyzed with shock!

Standing to the side, Cao Kun silently nodded to himself.

Ginger really is hotter the older it gets!

If Wang Shanshan wanted to match wits with Bai Jing, she still needed to practice for at least another two years.

At least for now, the gap in their levels was still quite substantial.

Seeing this, Cao Kun quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "All right, all right, you two stop arguing."

With that, Cao Kun turned to Bai Jing and said, "Aunt Bai, your bullet train is at 11:00 this morning. You should hurry up and pack your things."

Then, Cao Kun looked at Wang Shanshan and said, "Shanshan, you say a little less too. Aunt Bai is leaving for another city today and might never return to Xiayuan County, so stop making her angry."

Hearing this, Wang Shanshan froze slightly, though she still rolled her eyes at Bai Jing and let out a huff.

Bai Jing likewise responded with a disdainful roll of her eyes at Wang Shanshan before turning back to her room to pack her belongings.

Only then did Wang Shanshan approach Cao Kun and lower her voice to ask, "Cao Kun, where is this woman going?"

"She says she's going to Xihe City," Cao Kun replied in an equally low voice. "As for whether it will actually end up being Xihe City, that's not certain yet."

Wang Shanshan looked puzzled. "What do you mean? Why isn't it certain?"

"Because Aunt Bai is going there to look for a job," Cao Kun explained. "If she can't find a suitable job in Xihe City, she'll definitely have to move somewhere else."

Oh!

She's going to look for a job!

Wang Shanshan slowly nodded. "So she's looking for a job. I thought she couldn't stand the loneliness and had already found a new partner in just these few days to get married off."

Uh...

Dark lines traced down Cao Kun's forehead. "Stop talking nonsense. If Aunt Bai hears you say that, she'll definitely rush out and beat you."

"She wouldn't dare!" Wang Shanshan glared and said, "Does she really think I'm still afraid of her now? Let her try laying a single finger on me, and I'll fight her to the death! Just wait, sooner or later I'm going to settle all scores with her once and for all, humph!"